ISTE+Conference+Videos

1. [|60 in 60: 60 Web 2.0 Tools in 60 Minutes] //Brandon Lutz, School District of Philadelphia// Get ready for 60 free tools designed to enhance your classroom environment! Gain exposure to Web 2.0 applications designed to help differentiate your instruction.

Brandon Lutz's presentation 60 in 60 was a great quick tutorial of a variety of websites that he feels are worthwhile for educators to look into using for the classroom. While watching the Webinar I was pleased with how many of the sites he discussed were ones I have already been familiar with.

The first tool he discussed was [|Animoto] and although I have been familiar with this for quite awhile I have struggled using it in my classroom simply because of its limitations. I was appreciative of the example video that he showed to demonstrates the simplicity of how one teacher made it work. Students, hopefully, will do enough research on a given topic to find appropriate pictures to be used and give you only the key information, quality over quantity. This is definitely something I will be looking into more. I also enjoyed learning about [|Triptico] and how it can simplify picking students at random as well as grouping students. I also like OhLife because it emails you asking you about how your day was going. It is a nice little reminder to journal about what is going on in the classroom. I think this is very effective because this is one thing I struggle with when it comes to reflecting on a lesson I teach.

There are a few challenges that I see with many of the great resources that are available. Several years ago I was asked what I would like to be able to use in regards to technology. I simply answered that if each one of my students had a laptop we would use it all day. Instead of having 1:1 in the school we currently have over 600 kids in our building and we have approximately 75 student computers (not even a 1:6 ratio) 15 ipod touches and 25 iPads. It was nice to see that a variety of the web 2.0 tools that he mentioned also work on the ipad. (The ones I know about for sure include; google forms, Quizlet, Khan Academy, Edmodo, Puppet Pals, Wolfram Alpha.) I feel guilty often times in regards to how much I use technology in the classroom and I can not imagine how worse it will be with the legislation that is currently being discussed in Pierre.

.[|The iPad Revolution: Innovative Learning in the Classroom] //Camilla Gagliolo, Arlington Public Schools// The iPad brings interactive learning and amazing resources to the fingertips of all learners. Discover the possibilities of learning in your classroom with the iPad.

Camilla Gagliolo presented The iPad Revolution which talked about how her school implemented iPads into the classroom. There was plenty of good information in this webinar, but I became very frustrated with the presentation itself. At times the presenter did not lay out a good path of where she was going. When she did beging discussing things that peaked by interest often times her information was cut short or went to fast. Towards the end of the presentation she finally mentioned that all the resources and apps that she has been discussing are available on a resource page. Unforutnately the webinar got cut short before I was able to get the address. I did email her asking her about this and I will also be looking at the links she did give out in hopes that one of them will circle back to her resource page.

Her school district began using iPads on a very small scale and that was in Special Ed and Math. The progress was wonderful in which the majority of the special education students were able to meet their benchmarks. Some of the biggests gains came with students with severe disabilities such as nonverbal autism and cerebral Palsy. These individuals were finally given a way to interact with their surroundings in an effective manner. One app they mentioned with this was prloque2go. This is an expensive app, but allows students to communicate with the outside world.

It is comical how this presentation is only 6 months old and already the information is somewhat out of date. She discussed the future of textbooks and how they will be interactive. As of last month that future is now a reality with iBooks2. Better yet teachers have the ability to create the books in a very simple format. She did touch on a variety of apps that I plan on looking more in depth at, getting ready to speak at the apple event I am hoping to find a variety of things that everyone could use.